Rise, Fall, Rebirth: Stories of the West End

The West End Museum’s permanent exhibit, Rise, Fall, Rebirth: Stories of the West End, explores 400 years of history and urban development in the City of Boston through the use of interactive digital media, film, artifacts, and archival material. We want you to feel the West End story by surrounding you with the images, sounds, emotions and physical remnants of the historic neighborhood.

The history of the West End is a story of community, cultural exchange, and displacement. From the Shawmut Peninsula’s earliest settlement, the rise of the abolitionist movement on the Historic North Slope of Beacon Hill, and to the waves of immigration in the 19th and 20th centuries, the exhibit follows the paths of West Enders both past and present.

Rise, Fall, Rebirth explores the community’s experiences and relationship with the City of Boston and developers during a devastating period of urban renewal beginning in the 1950s, resulting in its destruction and displacement. The exhibit highlights the perseverance and activism of residents as they fought for their homes and remained dedicated to the West End community long after their physical eviction.

As the neighborhood has changed and the city has grown over time, we seek to understand the West End we now inhabit, encouraging citizens to take active roles in their own communities which are constantly evolving.

CAMBRIDGE STREET SUPPORTERS

Julia Forbes
Andrew Matteis
James Bonaccorso

JOY STREET SUPPORTERS

David N Aurelio
Gene Kroner
Joseph McDonald
Jane Wilson
Mary Louise Burke
Michelle Desveaux
Virginia Caruso Bove
Skip Stearns
Timothy Eastman
Matthew Conti
Joseph Russo
Joseph Cancelleri
Janelle Smart Fisher
John Cucinotta
West End Place
Denton Crews
Bruce Guarino
Anne Van Nostrand
Lois Ascher

LEVERETT STREET SUPPORTERS

Henry Bain
Strada234 Condominium Trust
The Greatest Bar
Evelyn Berde
Jennifer Cartee
Susan Gilbert
Charles Honig
Kevin Murphy
Denise Penney
Rebecca Riordan
Michael Wyson

PINCKNEY STREET SUPPORTERS

Tom Burgess
Stephen F Ober Memorial Fund
Friends of the North End

RIDGEWAY LANE SUPPORTERS

Phillip Jones
Jonathan Aibel
Roslyn Diamond
Nancy Linday
Kathleen McPhee
Elizabeth Murray
Mary Cooney
Alexander von Hoffman
Maria Sidor
Carl Carlsen
Patricia Dick
William Millett
Alan Berkman
Joan Jacobs
Daniel Dain
Robert Malster
Meghan Backhouse
Christine Carney
Kathleen Clifford
Jean Farrell-Tai
Earl Greene
Carrie Johnson
Paul Kafasis
Mary Krajci
Carlene Lajoie
Dawn Lake
Pam LaRue
Jane Lewis
Margaret Liss
Patrick Malone
Dianne Masiello
Alison McRae
Betsy Munzer
Brenda Noe
Vanessa Parks
Victor Passacantilli
Theresa Raso
Dianne Royle
Richard Shibley
Nathan Weinberg
David Wizansky
Howard Woolf
Lynne Young
David Chosiad
Duane Lucia
Jane Papa
Rachel Silver
Gretchen Locke
William Kuttner
Kathleen Fitzgibbon
John Zinkowski
Arlene Andrew
Elaine Aquilino
Georgeanne Aquino
Thomas Damigella
Carolyn Faria
Wendy Gordon
Christopher Gorton
Doreen Hogle
Craig Kelley
Robin Keough
Marie Manupelli
Sheila Petruccelli
Nella Potenza
Anita Schoen
Herb Shifres
Sharon Slodki
Jaquie Sullivan
Louise Thomas
Dena Barisano
Jim Tabner
Francis Morello
Anonymous (x2)
Pam Borys
Julia Brooks
Leslie Brunetta
Suzanne Buchanan
Leah Dearborn
Katt Hernandez
Edwin Kaufman
Ronald Klodenski
George MacNeil
Christine Pimentel
Diana Sabella
Sarah Siedlar
Anne Smagorinsky
Mary Stone
Kathleen Thompson
Otis Wheeler
Anne Crissey
Jane Forrestall
Ellen Litt
Susan Smith
Valerie Quinones
Sebastian Aldo Desveaux Belfanti
Zack DeClerck